27 research outputs found
Signatures of Coronal Heating Mechanisms
Alfven waves created by sub-photospheric motions or by magnetic reconnection
in the low solar atmosphere seem good candidates for coronal heating. However,
the corona is also likely to be heated more directly by magnetic reconnection,
with dissipation taking place in current sheets. Distinguishing observationally
between these two heating mechanisms is an extremely difficult task. We perform
1.5-dimensional MHD simulations of a coronal loop subject to each type of
heating and derive observational quantities that may allow these to be
differentiated.Comment: To appear in "Magnetic Coupling between the Interior and the
Atmosphere of the Sun", eds. S.S. Hasan and R.J. Rutten, Astrophysics and
Space Science Proceedings, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Berlin, 200
Observation of An Evolving Magnetic Flux Rope Prior To and During A Solar Eruption
Explosive energy release is a common phenomenon occurring in magnetized
plasma systems ranging from laboratories, Earth's magnetosphere, the solar
corona and astrophysical environments. Its physical explanation is usually
attributed to magnetic reconnection in a thin current sheet. Here we report the
important role of magnetic flux rope structure, a volumetric current channel,
in producing explosive events. The flux rope is observed as a hot channel prior
to and during a solar eruption from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA)
telescope on board the Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO). It initially appears as
a twisted and writhed sigmoidal structure with a temperature as high as 10 MK
and then transforms toward a semi-circular shape during a slow rise phase,
which is followed by fast acceleration and onset of a flare. The observations
suggest that the instability of the magnetic flux rope trigger the eruption,
thus making a major addition to the traditional magnetic-reconnection paradigm.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure
Review of Coronal Oscillations - An Observer's View
Recent observations show a variety of oscillation modes in the corona. Early
non-imaging observations in radio wavelengths showed a number of fast-period
oscillations in the order of seconds, which have been interpreted as fast
sausage mode oscillations. TRACE observations from 1998 have for the first time
revealed the lateral displacements of fast kink mode oscillations, with periods
of ~3-5 minutes, apparently triggered by nearby flares and destabilizing
filaments. Recently, SUMER discovered with Doppler shift measurements loop
oscillations with longer periods (10-30 minutes) and relatively short damping
times in hot (7 MK) loops, which seem to correspond to longitudinal slow
magnetoacoustic waves. In addition, propagating longitudinal waves have also
been detected with EIT and TRACE in the lowest density scale height of loops
near sunspots. All these new observations seem to confirm the theoretically
predicted oscillation modes and can now be used as a powerful tool for
``coronal seismology'' diagnostic.Comment: 5 Figure
Solar Coronal Plumes
Polar plumes are thin long ray-like structures that project beyond the limb of the Sun polar regions, maintaining their identity over distances of several solar radii. Plumes have been first observed in white-light (WL) images of the Sun, but, with the advent of the space era, they have been identified also in X-ray and UV wavelengths (XUV) and, possibly, even in in situ data. This review traces the history of plumes, from the time they have been first imaged, to the complex means by which nowadays we attempt to reconstruct their 3-D structure. Spectroscopic techniques allowed us also to infer the physical parameters of plumes and estimate their electron and kinetic temperatures and their densities. However, perhaps the most interesting problem we need to solve is the role they cover in the solar wind origin and acceleration: Does the solar wind emanate from plumes or from the ambient coronal hole wherein they are embedded? Do plumes have a role in solar wind acceleration and mass loading? Answers to these questions are still somewhat ambiguous and theoretical modeling does not provide definite answers either. Recent data, with an unprecedented high spatial and temporal resolution, provide new information on the fine structure of plumes, their temporal evolution and relationship with other transient phenomena that may shed further light on these elusive features
Heating the solar corona by magnetic reconnection
Here I review briefly the theory of magnetohydrodynamic reconnection and ask what observational evidence is there that it is heating the corona. In particular, the new directions in which three-dimensional theory for reconnection is heading are outlined. Part of the coronal heating problem has been solved with the identification of reconnection driven by converging flux motions as the key for x-ray bright points. Furthermore, it has been shown that the large-scale diffuse corona is heated rather uniformly, so that turbulent reconnection by braiding or ion-cyclotron waves driven by network micro-flares are prime candidates. Finally, reconnection is the natural explanation for a wide variety of phenomena discovered by SOHO including explosive events, blinkers, the magnetic carpet and even possibly tornadoes.</p
Uncoupling the widespread occurrence of anti-NMDAR1 autoantibodies from neuropsychiatric disease in a novel autoimmune model
Autoantibodies of the IgG class against N-methyl-D-aspartate-receptor subunit-NR1 (NMDAR1-AB) were considered pathognomonic for anti-NMDAR encephalitis. This view has been challenged by the age-dependent seroprevalence (up to >20%) of functional NMDAR1-AB of all immunoglobulin classes found in >5000 individuals, healthy or affected by different diseases. These findings question a merely encephalitogenic role of NMDAR1-AB. Here, we show that NMDAR1-AB belong to the normal autoimmune repertoire of dogs, cats, rats, mice, baboons, and rhesus macaques, and are functional in the NMDAR1 internalization assay based on human IPSC-derived cortical neurons. The age dependence of seroprevalence is lost in nonhuman primates in captivity and in human migrants, raising the intriguing possibility that chronic life stress may be related to NMDAR1-AB formation, predominantly of the IgA class. Active immunization of ApoE and ApoE mice against four peptides of the extracellular NMDAR1 domain or ovalbumin (control) leads to high circulating levels of specific AB. After 4 weeks, the endogenously formed NMDAR1-AB (IgG) induce psychosis-like symptoms upon MK-801 challenge in ApoE mice, characterized by an open bloodâbrain barrier, but not in their ApoE littermates, which are indistinguishable from ovalbumin controls. Importantly, NMDAR1-AB do not induce any sign of inflammation in the brain. Immunohistochemical staining for microglial activation markers and T lymphocytes in the hippocampus yields comparable results in ApoE and ApoE mice, irrespective of immunization against NMDAR1 or ovalbumin. These data suggest that NMDAR1-AB of the IgG class shape behavioral phenotypes upon access to the brain but do not cause brain inflammation on their own